The Ghost in the Bathroom
by TwistedTale
Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.
1. Yellow Eyes

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: Welcome to the Ghost in the Bathroom! My (goes to count) third Harry Potter story! I hope you enjoy and review.

Chapter 1 Yellow Eyes

Tom Riddle always had a plan, for everything and tonight was no different. Nothing was left to chance, no scenario was unaccounted for, and every thing was in place for the creation of his first horcrux. He took his diary out of his pocket and flipped through it, reminiscing over the entries written in his neat, precise, script. It was the one place he had dared to put anything about himself, his thoughts, his plans, his desires. It was his most closely guarded secret, the most heavily warded thing he owned, and he worried over it more than he had anything else before in his life. He had poured himself into it, therefore it made perfect sense for it to be the thing that hid his soul.

'And once it is done I will write no more.' he silently vowed. His plans had grown since he had started his diary, and the information he had learned couldn't afford to be written down anymore, in fact the things that he had already written down could be considered too risky to put to parchment.

'I will not have to worry about it soon.' he thought contentedly as he shut the diary with a snap, soon, if he was correct, the information would be protected forever. Tom kept the diary in hand as he slowly opened the door to the girl's bathroom, he glanced around quickly, no one was around, perfect. He went inside and quietly shut the door behind him, straining his ears for any sound. When he heard nothing he went over to the sink and ordered it open and then called for the basilisk.

"W-whose th-ere?" there was a blubbery sounding hiccup after the statement and Tom tensed and fear coursed through him. Someone was in the bathroom, someone who could ruin what he had planned. He whipped around and saw a girl stumble out of one of the stalls. Her eyes were red rimmed and narrowed, he wondered about this for a split second before he saw the glasses in her hand, her eyes were bad, there was a chance she couldn't recognize him. He quickly concealed himself on the other side of the sinks, keeping a sharp ear of the distant muttering of the giant snake approaching.

"Hello? What's going on?" the girl whispered fearfully and he heard her shuffling closer. An idea struck him suddenly as the snake's voice got louder and louder under him, why not use this girl as the sacrifice for his horcrux? His heart started to pound in his chest, his mind spinning wildly. It could work, it wasn't how he had planned but Tom could be flexible, his right hand tightened around his diary while his left reached for his wand. He cast a swift spell that made one of the bathroom stalls rattle loudly making the girl squeak in surprise. Her attention away from him he took the time to move away from his current position and caught another glance of the girl. To his surprise he recognized her, Myrtle Henderson, a Ravenclaw who was always crying about something.

No one would miss her, she wasn't very popular. It seemed he had some higher entity on his side, if he believed in higher entities that is. His smirk widened as he watched, from his new vantage point, the girl start back toward the gaping hole in the middle of the bathroom and look down into it, her tear smeared glasses still clenched in her hand.

"What…?" she muttered, and the basilisk appeared. Tom shut his eyes placidly and waited as he heard Myrtle scream.

'Any time now.' there was a warning hiss from the great serpent and another shriek from the girl and a loud thump. Then silence, Tom was about to open his eyes when he heard a muffled shout and felt something small and warm collide into his chest. He let out a gasp of pain, his wand and diary fell from his hands and skittered off somewhere and in his shock his eyes opened.

He saw the eyes, the large yellow eyes laced through red veins and a dilated black slit that suddenly contracted at the sight of him, and Tom Riddle collapsed, the weight of the unconscious girl covering him her head lulling to the side on his chest. He was having an out of body experience, he had to be, why else would he be able to watch himself like this a shiver went down his spine as he edged closer to his body, what if he was wrong what if he was…

_Master! Master…. _The giant snake groaned and leaned down to inspect his body, its giant mouth opening and its tongue flickering in and out rapidly.

"_Stop!" _he suddenly shouted and was startled when the beast stopped and turned to look at him, reflex took over and he shut his eyes before the great beast could look at him 'Again' some dark part of his mind whispered but he stoically ignored the thought.

_Master? _the creature hissed and he felt the strangest sensation, like someone had decided to reach inside him and caress his organs. It tickled slightly and he wondered how he could still feel ticklish as a…. He shook his head in denial but the truth loomed over his head like a great ugly vulture, forcing him to contemplate a possibility he had ignored and dismissed as being foolish.

"_Go back into the chamber." _he ordered, he could feel the snakes hesitation, and rage bubbled up inside him. _"Now!" _he snapped and the great beast obeyed, when the sounds of the serpent faded away he opened his eyes again and with a word the chamber closed. As the chamber shut he was forced to look into one of the mirrors above the sinks and he saw- himself. He was a ghostly white, his hair, his skin, his eyes, his clothing.

'I'm dead.' he thought and horror started to build inside him as he was forced to deal with what he had been dreading, he started to tremble and clenched his fists tightly to force himself to stop. 'I'm dead- I'm a ghost.' the shivers that came with this mental declaration couldn't be held back and he stood- floated- there, trembling like a small child cowering in the face of his end. He wanted to scream his grief to the universe, he wanted to curl up into a ball and simply lay there until all was well again, although he knew it never would be.

'I have so much to do- I would have had eternity. I was so close.' **Was **he hated that word, he despised that word, it was like an admission of failure and Tom Riddle was no failure.

'But aren't you?' a voice whispered in the back of his mind 'You are a ghost, the very definition of a failure, for ghosts are only created because they have unfinished business. You left something undone without the ability to do anything about it, although,' the mental voice sounded contemplative, 'You do have eternity now.' A bitter laugh escaped his throat, he couldn't stop himself, the whole situation was all too _funny. _An eternity, an eternity, all he had ever wanted, all he had ever wished for, and he had it. He laughed even harder, silver tears leaking from his eyes. An eternity as a nothing, a useless nothing, it was as if he had been submerged into one of his nightmares.

"Be careful what you wish for!" he burst out suddenly as he laughed and was shocked out of his humor by the sound of his own human voice. Cool, crisp, as it had always been, and always would be, a high teen voice that would never deepen. Hopelessness cascaded through him once more and to his horror he was almost sure he would cry, he whipped around to his cooling corpse and the girl that was covering it.

"You!" he suddenly howled "This is all your fault!" his words echoed loudly in the bathroom, he didn't know how long he shouted at the unconscious Myrtle, but inevitably someone walked into the bathroom a girl, a haughty girl whose name he didn't know. She was one of Myrtle's tormentors, the one who sought her the most. Her nose was thrust into the air, arrogance and distain colored her eyes, and a sneer graced her lips.

"Are you in here again, sulking Myrtle?" she said, "Because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you-" she saw Myrtle and Tom's body in that moment and she was rendered speechless. Myrtle started to come around, her ugly pimply face contorting into an expression of pain and her hand reached up for her head.

"Ow, what happened?" she shifted and seemed to realize that Tom's body was under her, Tom's cold body. She looked at his stiff white face with his blank eyes and colorless lips and screamed bloody murder and the other girl did as well.

"Myrtle what have you done!" the girl shrieked in alarm as Myrtle stood and crawled away from Tom's body. The girl backed away from the scene, her eyes wild in her terror, and Myrtle whipped around to face her.

"I- I didn't do anything Olive you have to believe me!" Myrtle reached for her imploringly, seeking contact and reassurance from the only source available. But Olive would have none of it, she turned and bolted from the room.

"MURDER! MURDERING MYRTLE IN THE BATHROOM!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs and Myrtle, stupid Myrtle, stood there with a dumbfounded look and didn't move except to look in-between Tom's body and the door. Tom simply stood there and watched. Before long two professors came into the bathroom along with the school nurse. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose is alarm as he took in the sight of Myrtle and rose even higher when he looked in Tom's direction.

"Oh- oh my goodness!" Dippet blubbered in horror and brought out a monogrammed handkerchief to blot at his perspiring forehead. The school nurse had immediately went to Tom's body and carefully looked it over turning to the two men standing by the door and shook her head closing her eyes in grief. Without a word she conjured a white sheet and covered Tom's body.

"Hogwarts hasn't lost a student in almost one hundred years Dumbledore! A hundred years! Oh what will the parents think when this gets out!' he muttered and blotted his forehead again. Dumbledore just looked at the headmaster with a small frown and the nurse outright glared at him.

"A boy just _died _here headmaster, have you no respect for that?" the headmaster seemed to be startled at the accusation and paused in his blotting, forcing a bit of sweat to run down his chin and drop to the floor with a plop.

"Of course I do Poppy!" he blustered, "Tom is- was a fine boy and an excellent student, he will be sorely missed." The way he said it made Tom think that he had simply moved away, not died.

"We will all miss Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said, stepping forward slowly, watching the solid white sheet as if the body would jump up at any minute and shout surprise, "But that is not the issue we need to be dealing with." The nurse and Dippet looked at him in askance and he nodded his head in Myrtles direction.

The terrified girl suddenly snapped to attention when she realized that all eyes were on her now.

"I di-didn't!" she started to shake and fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder and Myrtle relaxed slightly at the sympathy expressed in Dumbledore's eyes.

"I don't think you did Miss Henderson, but we do need to know what happened." she opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.

"I don't know," she finally squeaked, "I don't know, Olive- she was teasing me about my glasses again and I came in here to be alone and…." she frowned "I heard a voice, a boys voice," she glanced over at Tom's covered body, "his I guess but it sounded strange, and there was something by the sink and it knocked me into someone," she looked over at the body again. "I- I don't know what happened next I hit my head and-" tears were pouring thickly down her cheeks now, "I didn't mean to!" she howled.

Dumbledore held out a handkerchief and let Myrtle cry into it, "I don't think you did Myrtle, now tell me, what did you see by the sink?" she sniffed and looked up at him with red puffy eyes.

"I couldn't see it very well, my glasses were off and…" she trailed off started to sob into the cloth again. It was then that Tom, the ghost, decided to make his appearance he needed to do something, anything to distract him from his own demise.

"It was a spider." every eye in the room went to Tom, Myrtle screamed, the nurse blanched, Dippet looked wildly alarmed, and Dumbledore simply widened his eyes and gave a small jerk.

"Tom- spider?" Dippet mumbled and leaned back against the wall, bracing himself. Tom nodded, keeping a stoic mask in place as his mind worked at breakneck speed. He had to keep story believable and somehow keep the Chamber hidden, he needed someone to blame for the entire thing and he had the perfect person in mind. The person he would have blamed if Myrtle had died.

"I believe so, that third year Gryffindor Hagrid,"("Knew that boy was trouble right from day one." Dippet muttered) "Has been keeping a giant spider, I was tracking it and saw it slip into the bathroom, I was worried someone might get hurt and perused it."("Such a brave boy!") Tom gave a very genuine bitter smile.

"I miscalculated my ability to handle it, it bit me before I could do anything more than draw my wand and left me paralyzed by the stalls, its venom acted quickly and I-" he trailed off and looked down at his feet. "Well you can guess what happened, Myrtle only found me after the spider ran into her." Myrtle nodded eagerly.

"Yes! Now that I think about it it did look like a spider!" Dippet nodded sagely while Dumbledore glared at Tom in suspicion. The nurse simply grumbled to herself about irresponsible students and looked like she was trying to hold back tears.

"Sir, I believe that the spider is the creature this so called heir of Slytherin has been threatening to unleash on the school."

"Then we mustn't delay!" Dippet exclaimed, "Dumbledore start a search party for the beast, fear not Tom your sacrifice will not be in vain!"

"What about Miss Henderson?" Dumbledore asked pointedly.

"What about her?" Dippet snapped, "The girl is obviously innocent, she is free to go."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to say something more but Myrtle bolted from the bathroom as soon as Dippet finished his sentence.

"Well we shall have to go find this menace before any more students are hurt!" and with that Dippet burst from the bathroom, Dumbledore trailing after him, his eyes narrowed in thought. That left the nurse standing by Tom's body, she gave him a sad smile.

"I will make sure you are taken care of Mr. Riddle." she said kindly. Tom nodded but didn't look at her, only flinching mildly when she picked up his wand and carelessly shoved it into her pocket. With a flourish of her own wand she levitated Tom's body to the door and left leaving Tom alone, with nothing more to do. He blinked slowly, even though he didn't need to. This would be his future, nothing more to do, no one to be, nowhere to go.

With a listless movement he edged toward the door and tried to grab the knob, his hand passed right through it. He didn't need doors anymore, he could just move through them and was about to when something caught his eye. His diary, wedged behind one of the toilets, if he could have paled he would have. He would have to find a way to keep that out of the hands of Dumbledore, of everyone.

He reached down to pick it up but his fingers passed through it, although a strange tingling sensation filled his hand at the action. He couldn't move it, frustration and rage filled him and his body shook and a pulse of energy left him, wedging the diary further behind the toilet. Tom blinked in surprise, and tried it again, nothing happened but it didn't discourage him. It was an interesting development, he could still move things. Limitedly it seemed but it didn't matter, it was something, it was influence and the future didn't seem as bleak as it had before.

The days passed like that, Tom practiced his new ability to move things day and night (The lack of a need for sleep helped him tremendously) and he found he could move things further and further (Except for the diary, it was too tightly stuck). He was forced to stop though, once to accidentally scare away a curious group of first years from the bathroom, a second time to decline an invitation to his own funeral, a third moment when his group of Slytherins came to pay their respects, still glancing fearfully in his direction as they muttered something about keeping his dream alive and shuffling out and a final time when the Grey Lady came swooping in.

"Tom Riddle." she murmured and placed a hand on his shoulder, and to his immense surprise he could feel her touch. He was so surprised he forgot to remove her hand from his person and let it linger there until she removed it.

"I know what you are doing," she murmured, and he raised an eyebrow in response, she smiled sadly at him "First you will hide away from them, then you will seek out their company, and finally you will stop caring anymore."

"Them?" she nodded.

"The living. You will grow tired of them and start to forget, and soon enough, when no one is around to remember anymore they will forget you too." With that she left and he sneered at her back. What she had proposed was ridiculous, and so he ignored it and went back to his practice, if he could influence something, anything then his death could mean something.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years and soon enough, as they Grey Lady had said, people forgot about Tom Riddle the person and now he was simply regarded as the ghost who haunted the bathroom on the second floor. No one went into the bathroom any more, except once when Dumbledore had told him he could continue to stay in Hogwarts when he became headmaster.

In that time he continued to practice what he could do and found it got easier and easier to manipulate the world around him. Before long he started to make trips to the library at night, searching for a cure, any cure, to his problem but each night he found none. So every night he searched harder and harder for the next fifty years, undisturbed.


	2. Restricted

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: This chapter is for my first Reviewer for this story Honeyduke's Finest! Who not only reviewed this story but also my other Tom story Memory! Kudos, cheers, and all that jazz!

Chapter 2 Restricted

* * *

Tom carefully took a page of the book he was reading in-between his fingertips and flipped it. A shower of poisonous spoors were knocked loose at the action but Tom ignored them, a ghost didn't need to worry about poisoning after all. With a glowing white index finger he gently traced each letter in front of him as if committing them to memory before reaching the bottom of the text, turning the page, and starting the process over again. For the last fifty years this had been his undisturbed late night routine, so he was more than a bit surprised when someone edged their way into the stacks.

He was even more surprised when he saw that she, for it was a she, looked to be little older than a first year. Intrigued Tom stood from the small table he had been sitting at and floated through a book case, carefully maneuvering himself into the pale light of the lantern she carried in her small hand. She wouldn't be able to see him very well in the direct light, and he could observe her unseen. Her hair was very red, almost the shade of an autumn leaf, very pretty but unkempt. This was a girl who didn't put much thought into her appearance, at least not yet. Her face was nothing special and the freckles spattered across her nose and cheeks made him think she had spent too much time in the sun. Her eyes were sharp as they scanned the shelves and the tattered books, and her hand was steady as she reached out for one of the cursed volumes.

"I wouldn't do that." The girl froze, her hand inches from the book and slowly turned to look at the place where Tom's voice had come from, she couldn't see him. She instantly relaxed and a defiant glint entered her hazel eyes "If you're hiding then you're not a teacher or a prefect, you can't do anything to me." Tom chuckled darkly and the girl shivered in response.

"You are correct, I can't do anything to you, you can do whatever you wish," he floated into the darkness and came into full view, making her jump in surprise, "By all means touch the book." Her eyes narrowed and her fingers curled back.

"Something bad will happen to me if I do wont it?" Tom's lips quirked but he didn't say anything, the girls brow furrowed and her arm dropped to her side. She scanned the shelves again before pointing to another book.

"Is that one safe?" Tom's eyes flickered to it for a brief second before returning to hers.

"That depends on your definition of safe."

"Can I touch it without something exploding?"

"Yes," she reached for it "Although your skin will peel from your muscles." she yanked her hand back and she shot him a venomous glare. She jerked her head toward the small stack of books on the table he had been using.

"And those?"

"One will make your eyes melt after reading chapter five, another will make your hair fall out-" almost immediately she ran her fingers through her locks, "And the pages of the book that is open is covered in poisonous spores."

"Are there _any _books I can read." she asked with an exasperated sigh. His lips quirked again.

"You can read any book you desire Miss Weasley, just remember that there may be consequences for doing so." she rolled her eyes before examining him again.

"You know my name?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"I know your surname, the red hair gave you away." not to mention the shabby clothing and the resemblance to the twins who, on occasion, hid in his bathroom to escape the prefects.

"Oh…" she trailed off before looking up and into his eyes, "I'm Ginny." she stared at him expectantly, as if she expected him to introduce himself and when he didn't her eyes narrowed.

"Well?"

"Well?" he repeated back at her and her cheeks burned red.

"What's your name?"

"What will you give to know that?" she blinked and looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"What would a ghost want?" she asked, seemingly to herself.

"Information."

"What kind of information?"

"What are you doing in the restricted section at this time of night?" her lips tightened and her eyes found a spot on the floor to focus on, as if she were too ashamed to look him in the eye.

"My brother dared me to do it."

"Lie." her eyes shot up to meet his.

"What?"

"You are not telling me the truth." she looked startled and in that moment he could tell she was used to lying and getting away with it.

"You sound like my mother," she grumbled to herself "Fine then if you want the truth, I was curious."

"About?" she stuck out her chin stubbornly and glared at him.

"I answered your question, I don't have to tell you anything else. Now tell me your name."

'More clever than the average Gryffindor,' he thought eyeing the crest with distain, 'She should be in Slytherin, she would do very well there.'

"Tom." he finally answered.

"Tom? As in Tom Riddle?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes." She looked suddenly looked embarrassed and he quirked an eyebrow in response.

"You were the one who gave your life to save the school during the Chamber incident. You even got a special services to the school award, it was the most heroic thing a student has done since the eighteen hundreds." Her eyes shone with hero worship.

'My, my it seems I have an admirer,' he thought looking into the glowing eyes of the young girl, 'This could be useful in the future.' he thought and plans started spinning in his head for the first time in a long while.

"Is that so?" he asked distractedly and she nodded eagerly.

"I never expected to actually _meet _you," she gushed. "No one ever told me you were a-" she paused and waved awkwardly in his direction as if worried she would offend him.

"Ghost?" she nodded. "I can't imagine why they would, most have forgotten me by now. Only a few of the teachers would remember my time here." Her eyes softened in pity and disgust twisted in his stomach. He hated pity, pity was a sign of weakness and his liking for the girl dropped a few notches. 'She could learn to be rid of it though. She would made a very good Knight.' he thought and he mentally shook his head, 'No it wouldn't work. A little girl to assist me in regaining power? The thought is laughable, look at her family, look at her house- who would see her coming?' he blinked as an idea started to form in the dark recesses of his mind. After all his years of reading he had multiple theories about how to regain a mortal body, but he needed someone alive and magical to test those theories. This little Weasley could be just the thing he needed to live once more.

"Tell me why you were curious and I will tell you what books you can read." he commented and Ginny jolted in surprise. She frowned and looked to be deep in thought, Tom didn't push her, he couldn't afford to push her, if he was going to use her needed to be subtle and slow. He would make her believe as he did, have her do the things he wasn't able to, and in the end her loyalty be for him and him alone. It would take a while, but Tom didn't care he had all the time in the world.

"Professor Snape mentioned something about the dark arts in class today, I just wanted to see if it was true." Tom sensed there was something more to her answer but didn't pry, he would find out eventually.

"Alright," her shoulders slumped in what he identified as relief "You see that thin book over there?" she nodded "It is a good place to start, it is all about the theory behind the dark arts and it should go hand in hand with your class right now. You are a first year correct?" She nodded, her eyes already straining to read the text she had snatched from the shelf.

"I wouldn't linger here too long though, the squib and his cat patrol here around this time, go back to your dorm." almost as if on cue there was a loud purring meow and Ginny jumped almost dropping her lantern in the process.

"Mrs. Norris!" Ginny squeaked in alarm.

"Go back to your tower, I can distract the cat." she shot him a grateful look and tucked the book into her pocket and bolted away, her lantern swinging wildly. When she was out of sight Tom went over to the book he had been reading and picked it up. The cat came around the corner its tail in the air, its red eyes glittering and its whiskers twitching smugly. With a quick burst of energy that had left Tom momentarily feeling very week, the book went flying and hit the cat square in the side. The cat hissed loudly and bolted away sneezing loudly, the squib running after it howling for his precious feline to return to him.

But Tom ignored them and gently put the books he had been reading back where they had been before, no evidence left behind if the worst should happen to the cat. When he finished he scanned the room rapidly for anything he might have missed before floating through the wall of the library. He was instantly accosted with the affronted grumblings of the portraits about a rude little redheaded girl who had just ran by. Waking them all from their peaceful slumber.

"No discipline!" One portly man yelled to the woman in the painting next to him. "Not like in our day."

"In _our _day! Roderick you are seventy years older than I am!" the man flushed and stammered out an apology but the woman wasn't listening to him any more. She simply huffed in annoyance and drew a curtain across her frame.

"Cute aren't they?" Tom glanced to his left to see the Grey Lady hovering there.

"Helena." he responded curtly, her smile widened as she took his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. It took everything in Tom's power not to pull away from the contact he had grown unused to in his isolation.

"You are out early," she commented "You normally don't leave until the sun starts to come up."

"You have been watching me." her smile turned shy.

"No, I just haunt the library and you come here every night, you're a hard person to miss Mr. Riddle." She shot him another smile "One would think that you were a Ravenclaw with the amount you read." she gently teased as they glided down the hallways.

"I simply like to be well informed."

"That is what I love about you," she said fondly. "I'm sure the others would appreciate it too." Tom held back a sigh, ever since their first interaction as ghosts she had been attempting to get him to interact with the rest of the 'community', as she called it. He thought it was a bit hypocritical seeing as she rarely spent any time outside her own company herself. But he never bothered to tell her that and simply ignored her attempts each time they spoke.

"Your deathday is coming up," she mentioned casually, "Do you have any plans that night?" He grimaced, he had hated celebrating his birthday when he was alive and his deathday was no different. In fact he thought the whole thing rather morbid, why anyone would celebrate the day of their death was beyond him and he tried to ignore his.

"I haven't made any plans, the whole thing makes me uncomfortable, you know that." she frowned and pulled him to a stop.

"Tom death isn't anything to be uncomfortable about, it is a natural part of-" he held up a hand.

"I meant parties Helena, they make me uncomfortable." her cheeks flashed grey and she looked down at the hem of her dress.

"Oh, I thought-" she shook her head. "Well it doesn't matter what I thought, I shouldn't have pushed you." He sighed, they went through this conversation every few years. When would she finally give up her useless attempt to get him to socialize with the other ghosts? He glanced down at her and noticed the stubborn glint in her eye.

'Never then.' he thought with a mental sigh as they made their way to his bathroom.

"It has been wonderful talking to you Tom. As usual." he gave a small bow of his head.

"Likewise my lady." Her cheeks flashed gray again and she floated away back to the library, glancing over her shoulder every once and a while. When she was out of sight his polite mask faded and he glared listlessly after her. He sighed and floated back into the bathroom laying back in the spot he had last been alive. He wasn't tired, he could never be tired but he shut his eyes anyway and began to rearrange his plans to fit the little Weasley.

A small smirk stole away across his lips 'Your future is mine Gin dear, you just don't know it yet.'


	3. The Young and the Restless

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: Sorry this chapter is so short but I wanted to get it out quickly! To all of my amazing reviewers thank you.

Amethyst Evangeline: I read your Fruits Basket story a few years back, I loved it! Thank you for your lovely review, it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to crank this baby out. I hope I can manage to keep Tom in character for you!

ASF13957:I thought it was an interesting idea myself, and It would embarrass me if my grammar and spelling were terrible!

Shadowy Flip Flops of DOOM: I love your name, and thank you for saying so.

Chapter 3 The Young and the Restless

Ghosts didn't sleep, they couldn't, but they could meditate and refresh themselves if they wished. This is what Tom did for the rest of the night, and when morning came he felt more energy in his ghostly body then he had in a long time. But with this energy came a restlessness, a rather desperate urge to move that needed to be sated, and so he left his bathroom to wander the hallways.

It was early in the morning and most of the students were still lounging about in their common rooms. Most days Tom would have relished the quiet the morning offered, craved it in fact, but today- today he wanted noise. He didn't know where this strange urge had come from, this strange desire to be around people, but he didn't bother analyzing the feeling as he took the once familiar path to the Great Hall where a low buzz of conversation had started up.

The last time Tom had passed through the giant double doors he had been alive. Automatically he lifted his hand to press it against the smooth wood and push open the door but his fingers passed through the solid barrier, leaving a slight tingling in his fingertips. He sighed and dropped his hand and quickly floated through the door, getting a brief glimpse of the wood inside before his vision cleared, and he was in the Great Hall.

Nothing had changed.

The four house tables were in their respective places, the food was laid out in a large delicious looking spread, and teachers were milling about the staff table yawning and glancing bleary eyed at the students below them, mostly studious Ravenclaws. Only two people noticed Tom's entrance though, one was Albus Dumbledore who only gave a curious glance at his former student, the other was Ginny Weasley.

She was sitting at the Gryffindor table, her small hands clutching the book he had given her in the restricted section tightly, as if afraid someone would take it away. She needn't have worried though, no one would know what it was at first glance. It had no distinguishing marks that would classify it as a book of dark magic and so Ginny should have felt safe reading it at her almost empty table. She had looked up from her reading just as he came into the room and smiled shyly in his direction. His lips quirked in a very brief smile in response as he turned to the Slytherin table and floated there.

He almost felt alive as he headed toward a group of young boys who were sitting where he used to. He recognized a few faces: a Malfoy, a Crabbe, and a Goyle, standing out the most, they were sitting together with another boy he couldn't name. He floated closer to the group, they were all huddled together whispering urgently about something but quickly stopped at the sight of Tom. The Malfoy boy glared arrogantly at him looking him over, his silver eyes resting on the Slytherin crest for a moment then glancing at his prefect badge then back to his face.

"Who are you ghost. I have never seen you before." he growled rudely, Tom edged closer to the blond and held back a smile at the shivers his cold body inspired in the boy.

"You wouldn't have." he simply said, letting his hand brush against the back of the boy taking great amusement as he instantly went ramrod straight and took a deep gasp of air.

"You- you can't-"

"Oh but I can Malfoy, unless you care to stop me?" an indignant blush spread across his cheeks as he tried to sputter something out that sounded suspiciously like 'My father'.

"Calm down Draco, he's just a ghost," The boy he couldn't name muttered, glancing at Tom as he took a seat next to the alarmed Malfoy boy. "We still need to talk about what we are going to do to about Potter." The Malfoy glared at the other boy but didn't say anything as he turned his back on Tom.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Keeping that moron from getting into our common room again is more important anyway." The boy nodded.

"Good now that that's settled we need to find out how he is getting our password, I think the girls are telling him." Crabbe blinked in surprise.

"Why would they do that?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"Because girls think he is attractive, I don't know why they would but who can understand girls?" The other boys nodded in agreement.

"So we should start questioning the girls?" Goyle asked excitedly, cracking his knuckles. The unnamed boy looked alarmed.

"If we question them that way they will have nothing to do with us in the future, and I don't know about you mate but I want to get laid eventually." Goyle muttered something under his breath and slouched back in his seat.

"I think we better take care of it Mulciber." Draco said. The now christened Mulciber nodded in agreement and started in on his breakfast, eating slowly.

"I don't think just asking them is going to work, how do we know they are telling the truth?" Mulciber asked after a minute of silent chewing. Draco grimaced and set down his fork.

"We don't," he groaned rubbing his eyes tiredly, "We would have to take them at their word."

"There is another option." Tom murmured, all eyes turned to him. Draco glared at him sourly.

"Let me guess you want us to go to a teacher, well we tried that and it didn't work. All the teachers like perfect Potter." He spat out, Tom narrowed his eyes at the Malfoy and prodded him again with an icy finger.

"St-stop that!" He hissed. Mulciber ignored Draco though and turned to look at Tom.

"What did you have in mind?" Tom's lips quirked at the Malfoy's discomfort before responding to the other boy.

"Capture this Potter and force him to stay out of Slytherin house." Goyle's eyes lit up.

"Force him like," he cracked his knuckles "_Force _him?" Tom nodded and Goyle beamed at him before turning to Draco.

"It sounds like a good plan Malfoy, I'm real good at making people do things." Crabbe grunted in agreement.

"It does sound like a better plan then questioning all the girls in Slytherin, easier too." Draco glared hatefully at Tom.

"It is a good plan." He growled through clenched teeth, "But how do we capture Potter without getting caught ourselves, and how do we keep him quiet after-?" he wrung his hands in a strangling motion.

"Can you not think for yourselves or do you need me to guide you every step of the way?" Tom sighed in mock disappointment "I feel foolish assuming you were Slytherins.". If the boys in front of him had been dogs their hackles would have been up, Mulciber and Malfoy knowing they had been insulted and Crabbe and Goyle following their betters lead.

"We can too come up with something ourselves!" Draco snarled, standing up aggressively, "Come on guys lets go." The Malfoy abruptly grabbed his bag and stormed out of the Great Hall, Mulciber glanced at Tom before standing up slowly.

"Come on Crabbe, Goyle, you know how his highness gets after a temper tantrum." Both boys gave their plates longing looks before grabbing their bags and following after Mulciber. After the group was out of sight Tom allowed himself a small chuckle and stood, it was good to rile young Slytherins again, almost- fun. He idly straightened out his robes and started to float away only giving a passing glance at the other tables that were starting to rapidly fill up as he exited the Hall.

It took him three minutes to realize he was being followed, and another two to know who is was. With a small smirk he turned a corner and quickly hid himself in the wall, listening for the small rapid footsteps of his stalker. Tom looked out, saw a flash of red hair and emerged from his hiding place.

"Hello Miss. Weasley." Ginny gave a startled yelp and jumped about a foot in the air, quickly turning to face Tom.

"Merlin! Don't _do _that." she gasped out, pressing hand to her chest. Tom simply smiled at her and her eyes softened dramatically.

"I saw you talking to Malfoy and his gang," Ginny murmured glancing up at his face. Tom gave a small unconcerned hum in response. She glared up at him, her lips twisting in annoyance.

"Not going to tell me what about?" Tom decided to humor her.

"They were having issues with another student, I was simply helping them resolve the problem."

"They looked angry." Ginny observed, Tom shrugged.

"They don't take constructive criticism well." They lapsed into silence.

"If that is all…" Tom started to float away.

"No wait-" she called, he paused "I just- I just wanted to thank you for your help last night." Tom smiled again and the girls blush returned full force.

"It isn't a problem Miss. Weasley, do not forget I was a prefect when I was alive. Helping students was my job." Ginny nodded her eyes glazed over with affection and inwardly Tom scoffed, winning this schoolgirl's affection was almost too easy.

"Yes, well I have to get to class." she muttered and edged away from him.

"Indeed you do, but remember Ginerva," she froze. "Should you ever need any assistance in finding more interesting reading material. I would be happy to help." With that Tom floated through the wall, leaving the little redhead looking after him.


	4. The Name Game

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: Another chapter coming up soon I swear.

Amethyst: This one isn't as long as I would have hoped but the next will be longer and will come out before Christmas. Thanks for reviewing!

DiagonAlleyParis: Thank you for reviewing, and for your wonderful offer. I can honestly say I haven't been this flattered in a long time.

Chapter 4 The Name Game

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For the next two weeks, Tom fell back into his old routine. When the darkness fell he would return to the library to read more of Hogwart's extensive collection that he was only half finished with; and in the morning he would remain in his bathroom in stasis to contemplate what knowledge he had acquired the night before. But again the tiny Weasley girl interrupted his pattern on the Monday of the third week of his solitude. She was back in the restricted section, but this time instead of a lantern she held a small jar with a tiny blue flame floating in the center.

"Back again Miss. Weasley?" she flinched badly and almost dropped the jar. She whipped around to face him her eyes large and round in terror as she stared at him uncomprehendingly, as if she didn't recognize him. A minute passed before she relaxed, her shoulders slumping in undisguised relief.

"Oh thank Merlin it's you, I thought you were a professor," Tom quirked an eyebrow in response and she blushed. "You are the only one who calls me Miss. Weasley. Besides the teachers." She muttered quietly, her soft brown eyes flickered up to his face for a quick moment to see if she caused any offence before carefully examining the flames in the jar she held.

"Would you prefer me to call you something else?" he asked casually. She shook her head quietly for a second, paused, and then started to nod.

"Ginny, all my friends call me Ginny," Tom frowned, Ginny picked up on it and quickly barreled on "But you can call me Ginerva if you like, only mum calls me that though and that's only when I'm in trouble and I really don't like it all that much but you've used it before and it seems like the logical choice for you to use." She took a few deep breaths after the rushed statement and Tom gave an amused quirk of the lips in response.

"Alright, Ginerva it is." Her smile was half relieved, and half annoyed. She would get over it eventually, he refused to call her _Ginny-_ out loud at least_. _It sounded like a name one would grace a pet not a person; and while her responses to him were becoming more and more like a puppy trying to please its master, she needed to be called by something he could stomach saying.

"Now why have you graced the library at this fine hour?" Her smile turned almost guilty as she glanced around the room, as if to be sure it was empty, before pulling out the book he had recommended to her.

"I finished it," she said, her fingers stroking the careworn cover, "You said that if I wanted to read anything more interesting that I could ask you so…" She looked up at him beseechingly and again he couldn't help but mentally compare her to a puppy.

"Indeed I did." He said and floated to the tomes that lined the walls, carefully scanning the different texts for something that she would be able to read. After a minute of searching he found a large book that he had found mildly interesting at her age about curses and cursed objects, it would most likely take her a long while to read but that was fine. It was true that he wanted her interest in the dark arts to germinate and grow into a tree of black corruption in her soul, but the process would have to be slow. Ginerva was young yet and still very tightly linked with her family's Light ideas. Should she come across anything too- _intense _for her to handle he would lose her and all his new plans would have been for naught.

Tom couldn't have that, so he smiled at her and gestured toward the thick book that he was sure would take her at least a month to read, and started to mentally catalogue the books he would give her when she finished with it. With a small grin she pulled out her wand and with an exaggerated swish and flick along with a clearly annunciated, "Wingardium Leviosa." The book floated down from its perch and down onto the single table in the restricted section.

She beamed in pleasure and carefully scooped up the book into her arms, after a moment though she grimaced and carefully put it back down. "Its heavy." she offered by way of explanation at his questioning glance.

"I see, you will have to forgive me Ginerva I had forgotten how heavy it was."

"O-oh its no problem I'll just-" she lifted the book again and her arms trembled under the strain, she set it down with a sigh "I'll just levitate it everywhere I go." She grumbled to herself and glared at the book as if it had grievously insulted her by being so heavy.

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance?" Tom floated down and stood next to her, giving her a slight chill from their close proximity. Ginny sighed and grabbed her jar with the tiny blue flames inside, hugging it close to her body to warm herself.

"_Can_ you do anything?" she asked with a tilt of her head, looking up at him disbelievingly through ginger eyelashes. He gave an unnoticeable twitch and felt the urge to put her through some of the more violent torture curses in his arsenal, how dare she imply that he was incapable of assisting her? He, Lord Voldemort? It was then he remembered that she saw him as nothing more then a useless ghost, and that reminded him of how much he needed a living person to bring him back to his full glory. 'And then I will torture her,' He thought in quiet relish 'And make her scream until her throat is raw and bleeding.'

"I might not be able to move it," he lied, he wasn't ready to give up that particular secret yet, "But I can teach you the feather light charm. You would have been learning it later this year anyway." Her eyes lit up and she instantly set down the jar and pulled out her wand.

"Teach me." Her eagerness was mildly irritating, and he briefly considered revoking his offer before deciding that he would use this opportunity to see how well she could cast. He started to carefully explain the spell and she listened intently as he spoke.

"You understand?" She gave a determined nod and pointed her wand at the book. She harshly tapped the tip against the old leather binding and mumbled the incantation with a growl. She paused for a moment, shoved her wand into her pocket with a carelessness that made him twitch, and gingerly lifted the book.

"It worked!" she crowed in delight balancing the book in one palm. Tom nodded in satisfaction, it wasn't a difficult spell to master, in fact he thought it was rather easy to accomplish. But for some reason first-years always seemed to have problems with it (If he could trust the tiny Charms teacher's grumblings he heard every so often) so her progress pleased him.

"Indeed it did, congratulations." She turned to face him, eyes wary, as if she wasn't sure if he was mocking her or not; but after a moment she gave a small pleased smile in return.

"It was all thanks to you, you told me how to do it." He accepted the credit with a small nod.

"I did, but you are the one who cast the spell in the end." Ginny's cheeks flamed and her head whipped down to look at the book in her arms and she mumbled something under her breath. Tom frowned, he hated mumbling with a white hot passion, he would have to work on the girl until she stopped the infernal act all together. "Do you have anything else to say Ginerva or is that all?" Her eyes met his again and she shook her head. "Alright then, you should be heading back to your tower. It is late and it would be most unwise to be caught outside of your dorm after hours."

She nodded and started off toward the library's doors but before leaving she paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "Good night, Tom." She whispered and left before giving him a chance to reply. Tom stared at the spot she had been in for a moment before returning to the table he inhabited. He was surprised to see the jar with the blue flames inside sitting on the edge of the table. She had forgotten it in the excitement of her small success.

'Poor little Ginny forgot her light,' he thought and reached into the jar with a single ghostly finger, stroking the sides of the glowing blue flame and was silently delighted as the flame bent away from his caress 'How will she ever find her way in the darkness without it?' He unfurled his other fingers and let the flame float above his palm for a moment before slowly curling his fingers around it, forming a fist. It cracked and fizzled at the cold that surrounded it, struggling like a living thing for a long while before slowly going out, casting the room in darkness once more.


	5. Study Habits

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: Sorry this is so late; I rewrote it three times before I was satisfied with the result. My next chapter will be VERY long trust me on that.

DiagonAlleyParis- This is for you my only reviewer for chapter four! Happy New Year to you as well.

Chapter 5 Study Habits

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The next time Tom saw Ginny Weasley she was sitting in the library staring absentmindedly out a window; one of her small fingers twirling a lock of autumn red hair. She had an open book in front of her, a Potions text if he wasn't mistaken, and a half-finished essay on the uses of moonstones next to it. He came closer and leaned over her shoulder eyeing the essay critically, it was poorly written. Attention to detail was lacking, sentence structure was poor, and her grammar was atrocious. The whole thing was laughably bad. Hadn't this girl written anything before her time at Hogwarts?

"This is a very low quality essay." Ginny flinched in surprise, twisting around to look at him.

"Tom?" She squeaked out, her eyes slightly crossing as she tried to examine him. Then what he said seemed to register with her and she scowled fiercely at him.

"Well you aren't the one going to grade it so what you think doesn't matter." She growled and turned back to her essay, picking up her quill and tapping it against the parchment furiously and leaving a small blot of ink in the middle of her incomplete sentence. Tom floated around to her left and took a seat, but Ginny didn't look up from her work.

"It might not," he said casually, leaning toward her "But I was the best student in my year and I never got anything lower than an O on my work. I know quality when I see it." She looked up at him, scowling as darkly as she could before her face went slack with exhaustion and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine," she murmured, pushing the essay closer to him "If it's so bad you can help me fix it." There was a challenge in her eyes, like she were daring him to refuse her. He tilted his head and smiled at her, "I would be happy to Ginerva." She blushed and tried to hide it by focusing all her attention on her essay.

"You could add more to this sentence here," he said, drawing a pale finger over the words, "You stated that 'Moonstones are used in lots of potions.' But didn't say anything about what those potions are. I would suggest starting there." Ginny frowned as she thought this over and reached into her bag, pulling out a clean sheet of parchment.

Her quill hovered over the parchment and she grimaced crossly as she copied the sentence from her previous paper before pausing. "Moonstones are used in healing potions right?" Tom nodded and she quickly scribbled down another sentence before pausing again. Tom sighed; she would need more help than he had thought.

"Some of the more well-known potions that use moonstones are generally for treating hormonal imbalance, and soothing menstrual cramps in women." Ginny listened raptly and then quickly scribbled down what he had dictated, hesitated for a moment then added something of her own. Tom glanced over at it and nodded in approval making Ginny relax a smidgen. This went on for the next hour and a half, Tom would tell of what he knew on moonstones and she would copy it almost word for word and occasionally added something herself with his approval.

When the essay was finally at the required twelve inches Ginny slumped over in relief and sighed in in bliss. "I never thought it would end!" She groaned and shut her eyes stretching back in her seat with a pleased grin. The light from the window above bathed her in its light and warmth, making her pale skin glow a soft golden color and her wild hair to shine a brighter red. She would be beautiful one day; Tom could see the potential in her despite her still rounded cheeks and young boyish figure. That could be a burden to his future plans, or a blessing, it all depended on the girl he saw before him and the very small influence he held over her.

'I still have time yet.' He soothed himself as she yawned and slumped forward slightly, giving Tom a lazy smile.

"Thanks for helping me all this time," she said gratefully and started to pack up her things. "I couldn't have done it without you." He acknowledged what she had with a nod and waited until she had packed everything back into her shoddy bag and slung it over her shoulder. Above them a bell started to chime and Ginny looked up in alarm.

"Merlin's balls!" She swore loudly making the librarian glare furiously at her and Tom give a small sound of surprised amusement "I'm going to be late for Defense!" Ginny ran towards the doors and was about to turn in the wrong direction when Tom floated in front of her.

"Tom!" She shouted in exasperation and skidded to a halt in front of him "Move! I'm going to be late!"

"If you keep going in this direction you definitely will be, I know a shortcut," he floated to the other end of the hallway, "If you will follow me I will show you." Ginny hesitated for only a minute before nodding. Tom smiled and away they went, using a lesser known passage way between a tapestry of a woman embroidering something onto a pillow and a stone gargoyle that shouted obscenities at Ginny in a Scottish accent as she passed.

"Press the stone there." Tom said and Ginny obeyed giving a delighted grin when a door faded into existence.

"Come back when you've ditched your dead boyfriend ginger puss," The gargoyle leered after them as they entered the dusty corridor, "Then you can see what something solid can do for ya!" Ginny blushed angrily and looked ready to pull out her wand when she saw Tom moving away and bolted after him.

"I could have hexed him." Ginny muttered darkly as the door swung shut behind her.

"It wouldn't have done any good; no one has been able to do anything to that gargoyle since it was placed there a thousand years ago."

"It would have felt good to hex him though." She muttered and kicked angrily at a pebble in her path.

"Have you been reading the book I gave you?" Tom questioned startling Ginny out of her rage. Her face contorted into a confused expression.

"Book what-"Her eyes lit up in realization "Oh, the book on cursed objects!" That distracted her from her plans of revenge against the gargoyle. But that meant he had to listen to her as she talked about all she had learned about cursed jewelry. So deep in conversation was she that she didn't notice when they reached her classroom.

"-And they wove the curse so deeply into the necklace that no one was able to destroy it without killing themselves!" Ginny exclaimed in breathless excitement.

"While that is very interesting," he said suppressing a sneer "We are at your classroom with a minute to spare." Blinking in confusion she looked around and saw that she was indeed in the DADA hallway. Her smile was so bright it hurt Tom's eyes.

"Thank you Tom!" She squealed and went for the door almost running into the woman walking out. The woman was tall with very green eyes 'The exact shade of the killing curse.' Tom thought in interest as he looked over the rest of her. She was tall and slim with lily white skin that was only just beginning to wrinkle around those intense eyes, and mouth. This was a woman who worried a lot if her troubled expression was anything to go by. Just as the thought crossed his mind the woman sighed and ran a hand through her blood red hair and frown lines appeared in-between her eyes and across her forehead. She was a very beautiful woman despite this, and for an instant he imagined that Ginny would look very similar to this woman as she grew older.

"Oh I'm sorry Professor Snape!" Ginny exclaimed as she ran into her preoccupied professor, "I didn't see you there." The teacher blinked slowly as if to clear her vision then looked down at Ginny with a warm smile.

"It's no trouble Miss Weasley, I wasn't paying attention myself." The bells rang and both girl and woman looked up.

"You are right on time, take a point for Gryffindor." Professor Snape said with a smile and waved her into the room, Ginny beamed at her before going into the classroom giving Tom a farewell wave as she disappeared around a corner. The professor looked at Tom for the first time with a questioning gaze.

"I don't think I have ever seen you before, and I went to school here." Tom gave his patented, 'Shy orphan' smile and he saw her eyes soften.

"I have never been the most social of creatures when I was alive, death didn't change that, but where are my manners," he gave a small bow that made the woman smile "I am Tom Riddle, and I normally haunt the bathroom on the second floor."

"I am Professor Lily Snape. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Riddle." He nodded his head.

"Likewise Professor Snape." The bells chimed again, the late bell this time.

"I should be in class, I only came out to get the door," she said with a sigh "Perhaps we will see each other again."

"Perhaps we will." With a small tired smile she turned and walked back into her classroom, shutting the door as she went, leaving Tom alone in the hallway.


	6. Fantaisie Impromptu

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: Sorry this has been so late but school had taken over my brain! But now that I have some free time this week I will be able to get more done. This story is not abandoned!

Chapter 6 Fantaisie-Impromptu

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The quiet sound of scuffling feet was the only warning he got before Ginny snuck around the corner of the bookshelves. She had to scan the area twice before she noticed Tom standing by his usual table. Ginny gave a small smile and walked over to him, carefully avoiding brushing up against the dangerous books.

She had a sheet of parchment in her hand that she carefully opened and held out for him to see. It was the potions assignment he had assisted her in writing earlier that week, next to the title was a giant _**O**_and a hastily scribbled _**Well Done **_next to it. Tom examined her face, the smile she was wearing was not a happy smile, it was more- resigned.

"This does not please you?" Ginny sighed and took a seat at the table, brushing her long bangs out of her eyes and trying to find a comfortable spot in the too big chair.

"It _does _but..." He gave her a questioning glance that she caught.

"I've been trying to avoid doing anything there," she started, laying the small scroll down on the book covered table, drawing her finger over the dry ink of the **O** "I was doing too good a job though and Professor Slughorn sent a letter to mum to tell her my grades were slipping." She gave a shaky sigh, pulling her hand back into her lap and closing her eyes at the memory of some past upset.

"She sent a howler," Ginny whispered softly, eyes taking on a watery sheen "At lunch and everyone _heard_." The horror in her voice and the tears that were starting to slowly spill down her slightly rounded cheeks both appalled and fascinated him. Ginny never seemed the type to cry over someone yelling at her, in fact he was positive she was more the type to fight back. 'Perhaps when a mother does it, it is different?' He quietly mused.

"Is there any particular reason you don't do well in potions?" She glared blankly ahead.

"It reminds me of home." Tom frowned, when most children spoke of home it was usually with great fondness, even joy (Except for those like Tom who had no real home in the first place.) so why would this upset the girl whose entire family was (seemingly) dedicated to each other?

"That is a bad thing?" She let out a sharp "Ha!" that echoed through the empty library.

"For my brothers no, for me it is a special brand of torture." Intrigued he pressed on.

"What makes it so?"

"You wouldn't understand." Something in him snarled furiously, he was Lord Voldemort, heir of Slytherin; he could understand anything her pathetic childish mind could come up with, especially if it pertained to torture.

"Explain it to me then." His tone was void of emotion and she looked curiously up at him, he cursed himself for letting his anger show.

"I don't know what it was like for women in your time," she started slowly, almost cautiously, like he was a wild animal about to bite at any sudden action "But here, there is opportunity for me to be anything, I could be a curse breaker like Bill or a dragon keeper like Charlie, hell I could even work in the ministry like dad." She grimaced, her eyes looking distant again as she continued to speak.

"But mum doesn't seem to care about that, she wants me to be like _her_," there was venom in her voice, "She wants me to cook and clean and have _babies._" She hissed out babies as if it was the foulest word in her vocabulary. Her eyes were wild as she continued "I can't do it Tom, I can't clean and cook huge meals all day and be happy, I would be bored to tears, and babies- Merlin's beard do you know how they are made? It's disgusting!" She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"How does this relate to potions?" He asked, mind spinning wildly trying to make the connection between her fear of being a housewife and potions.

"Well it seemed so much like cooking that I thought…" She trailed off, understanding flickered through his mind.

"If you were bad at it you wouldn't have to do it anymore?" She nodded.

'I can use this.' he thought, even as a sympathetic smile graced his lips.

"It seems foolish I know I just..."

"I was rather good at potions in my day, but there was someone better," It stung to admit it but he had to force her out of the aversion of potions she had, she looked curiously up at him "A girl named Eileen and she was brilliant, beyond brilliant with potions, but she wasn't a weak woman. She would always threaten to castrate any man who came near her and pickle the body parts." Ginny laughed and a painful hope started to dawn in her eyes.

"Really Tom?" He nodded and she smiled brightly, to his relief he could see no threat of more tears. She stared lovingly at him a moment too long and she blushed when she realized what she was doing.

"I-I only came down here to show you the O and to thank you again; you've been kind to me and helped me when you didn't have to." With that she collected her paper and left as quickly as she came. Tom smirked and shook his head; the little girl was much too easy. He contently settled back down to his books. The peace didn't last though; he had only read ten more pages before he was interrupted again.

Unlike with Ginny he had no warning to her approach and startled horribly when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

He tensed as the Grey Lady softly laughed at his reaction and floated around to his shoulder to peer down at the book, eyebrows quirking.

"'Torture Spells of the Twentieth Century' Interesting reading choice."

"I was curious, I'm sure you can understand my thirst for knowledge." He bit out, trying to soothe his frazzled nerves. If his heart was still beating it would be racing.

"Well yes, but torture spells?"

"I have never been shy about reading whatever caught my interest, no matter how gristly the material, you know this," she nodded contently "But I'm sure you are not here to simply talk about my reading material."

"Ah yes, I am here to ask you if you are free Thursday night."

"I have no pressing appointments." The sharp look she gave him let him know she didn't approve of his sarcasm.

"Well I can expect you to be in the unused classroom on the third floor around midnight then."

"Why?" She smiled a mysterious smile and drew the hand she had not yet removed from his person across his shoulders before letting it fall to her side.

"It's a surprise Tom." Tom hated surprises. His first instinct was to say no, but there was a sharpness to her expression that made him pause. If he didn't turn up to whatever she had planned it would quite literally haunt him.

He sighed, "Very well." The triumph in her eyes grated at him, and he wanted nothing more than to grab her dainty little wrist and twist until it broke, but she wouldn't be able to feel it anyway.

"Very good then, midnight, don't forget Tom." She didn't bother waiting for a response and floated through the book shelves, one volume shivering as she passed.

Tom gave a small annoyed sound when he was sure she was gone and shut the tome he was reading, he wasn't in the mood for it after his interaction with the Lady, and he had much to think about. First and foremost he had to find out what she had planned that Thursday, but before he could do that he had to find out what the date was…

He carefully put his books back into their places and floated out into the ordinary library and made his way over to the newspaper archives. Sure enough the latest copy of the Daily Prophet was displayed and in the upper right hand corner was the date; Wednesday April 14th 1993. Whatever he had agreed to was tomorrow, he had twenty hours to figure out what she had planned. He was about to leave when the headline caught his eye. _**Terrorist Attack Endangers Muggle Family**_ below it was a picture of a small house on fire and a family of muggles fleeing the scene. He couldn't help but be interested; the last time anything truly noteworthy appeared in the news was seven years ago when a man attempted to take up the mantle of Dark Lord. He had failed miserably, but not before taking out a large chunk of three small wizarding towns in France.

Perhaps another was planning on trying again? He hoped so; things were always more interesting when one was. With that thought he left the library carefully turning over the idea as he wandered the hallways. He thought long and hard about Dark Lords, and he wondered if the circumstances had been different would he have become one.

He paused where he was and played with the idea, carefully turning it over and over again in his mind. 'I think I would have liked to be one.' Tom decided with a small smile before looking around at where he was and promptly frowned, his bathroom again, fifty years of habit had brought him back to his death place once more.

Suddenly angry at himself he turned away and floated through a wall into an empty classroom. It was the charms room, books were pilled everywhere in a half hazard fashion and a giant chalk board outlined the proper wand movements for enchanting objects. He sat down at one of the desks and stared at the animate image of a wand periodically twirling in a counterclockwise movement on the board. He had died the day before they were going to practice advance enchanting. The thought stung as he watched the wand move over and over again, Tom's fingers gave a noticeable twitch and he wondered for the first time in a long while of where his wand might be.

'Did they burry it with me, or did they perhaps resell it?' His fingers twitched again at the thought of another wizard using his wand. 'I don't have time for this.' He thought crossly and stood, it didn't matter where his wand was- he couldn't use it anyhow. What was important was finding out what the Grey Lady was up to, he started to leave the classroom glancing back only once as the charm keeping the notes broke and faded and the board was wiped clean.

'A blank slate.' He thought without humor and his mind turned instantly too little Ginny Weasley. She was empty of knowledge, of anything other than her mother's hopes and dreams for her, but Tom would offer her the escape she craved, show her another way. 'And in return she will assist her savior in his bid for life.' He had the time and the will to mold her and he would, he thought contently, and when she was old enough he would have her start the experiments to bring him back to life. Those thoughts made whatever the Grey Lady had planned for him seem insignificant in comparison, besides that it wasn't as if she could actually do anything to him besides grate on his nonexistent nerves with her presence. Feeling more relaxed then he had all night he left the classroom and made his way back to his bathroom, finding the spot where he died and laid back contently. He would rest until tomorrow night and deal with what would come. He shut his eyes and fantasies of a future played like dreams across his mind.


	7. The Death Day Party

Summary: Through a sudden twist of fate, Myrtle is spared the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, unfortunately Tom wasn't so lucky.

An: I am sorry it has taken so long to start writing again, but I had just started a new job, a new semester in a college that I had to drive an hour to a day on a highway designed to kill me, and a truckload of homework and work and friends to balance. I simply didn't have time to write, but now balance has been restored! I have found a window of time to write and will be updating regularly again, yay!

Chapter 7 The Death Day Party

* * *

Somewhere a clock struck twelve and Tom sighed as the bells started to toll, it sounded ominous. He shook his head and resigned himself for whatever was coming, fell back into his mask of polite disinterest, and entered the classroom. He was greeted with the most unpleasant sight of his afterlife.

Ghosts were everywhere talking excitedly amongst themselves. They only stopped when they noticed Tom floating by and raised ghostly glasses in a cheer. There was a spread of rotten food on long tables pressed against the left side of the room, along with a half melted ice sculpture in the middle that might have been some sort of bird at one time. Truly the only mildly pleasant thing he could find about the entire affair was a lone fiddler in the back of the room who was playing a slow, mournful tune.

"Happy death day, Mr. Riddle!" He turned and had to hold back a grimace as the Fat Friar came up behind him and patted his shoulder with a familiarity they didn't have. "How long have you been with us now, thirty, forty years?"

"Fifty." He said stiffly and the Friar nodded as if he had known all along.

"Ah still barely out of the grave, I remember when I was your age – not your living age, of course- I was haunting a small room in my monastery before Hugo Hufflepuff the Second asked me to come back to Hogwarts with him. He was a lovely boy, horrendously scared by some pox but lovely all the same."

"I'm sure." The other ghost nodded jovially.

"Indeed it was a great pity he died not a month later, not that death is a pity mind you but the way he went was most unpleasant. But don't let me hold you up, this _is _your party after all and Helena went through so much trouble to get it together on time. Enjoy yourself." With that the Friar was gone, sliding up to a damp looking ghost and started up a loud conversation on the benefits of drowning.

Tom only had a short reprieve before the next ghost came up to him, this one he didn't recognize. He looked to be in his thirties but as a ghost appearances meant little to nothing in dictating ones true age. Apparently, he was in the castle visiting family and had been invited to drop in.

"I hope you don't mind." He finished with a tired smile and Tom gave him a strained one back.

"Not at all, please enjoy yourself." _Because I'm not going to._

"Oh I don't doubt I will happy death day to you with the hope of many more!" He raised his glass in a cheer and moved on toward another group of ghosts. This went on for the next hour or so, ghosts of all shapes, sizes, and ages came up to Tom and introduced themselves, some joyfully some mournfully but all ready to wish him well. Many recounted their own deaths to him, some spectacular ("Arrow right through the head!") Some less than stellar ("Tripped and fell down the stairs, broke my neck.") but all rather depressing in their own way, and there was no end in sight. Not to mention one sign of the woman who had forced him to go through it.

Tom had resigned himself to putting up with them all for the rest of the night when escape didn't seem to be an option when a loud gong sounded. The lone fiddler stopped and stared glumly over at the sound, as did everyone, else to watch as a large group came in through the walls. They all had an instrument of some sort and the small fiddler girl perked at the sight, floating up to another woman with a cello who seemed happy to greet her.

"Sorry for the wait everyone but the music is here!" It was Helena. There was an enthusiastic cheer as the band set up, the little fiddler settling in with the strings. Helena gave a little half-pleased smile when she noticed him and went to his side.

"So what do you think?"

_Of all the ways I can use chapter thirteen of Torture Spells through the Ages._

"I think you know Helena." Her glow seemed to dim for a second before brightening again.

"I know you don't like parties, but it's important to socialize. It's not healthy to be alone all the time." It was a little too late to do anything for his health but he didn't see the point of mentioning it to her.

"Nevertheless, I prefer my own company. You know that." Before she could respond the band started to play a slow waltz and the ghosts started to pair up and float above the room. Tom and Helena watched them for a moment before she reached out and took his arm.

"Dance with me." She demanded.

He was about to refuse her but she was already pulling him toward the other dancers with surprising strength. She grabbed one of his hands and placed it at her waist and took his other hand in hers, and started moving them around the air in a simple waltz. Tom seethed and moved closer to her, forcing her to take a step back and moving them the way _he _desired. He might have been forced into dancing, but he would be damned if he let her lead.

If Helena was annoyed with this she didn't show it, instead she followed beautifully beaming up at him with glowing silver eyes. He didn't know how long they danced for, minutes, hours; it was all the same to a creature that never grew tired, before something caught his eye.

Down by the door, Gryffindor's ghost had just floated in. He didn't get far before turning to look over his shoulder curiously before floating on into the party. Tom glanced down as he spun Helena again for what felt like the thousandth time that night, and watched curiously as the door opened slowly and- nothing. He paused and Helena paused with him, staring curiously at the space he was.

"What is it Tom?" He glanced over at her.

"I have no idea, dance with the Friar for a while." With that he passed her to the jolly ghost who had been waiting for a dance at the side lines. She shot him a deadly glare as the Friar laughed loudly and spun and spun and spun her. Revenge was sweet.

In better spirits (pun intended) he floated down to the ground and kept his eyes on the door that slowly was shutting. There was a tiny pale hand on the knob, floating out in the open air attached to nothing at all- or so it seemed. Whatever it was keeping the person invisible slipped a bit and a strand of that autumn red hair slipped out before she could hide it.

Tom almost laughed… almost.

"Now where on earth did you get an invisibility cloak?" Ginny whipped around and the hood of the cloak fell back, revealing her face for the first time. She was so startled that she tripped over the hem of the cloak that was two sizes too big for her and only just caught herself before falling. She glared at him for a moment before drawing herself to her full height.

"I borrowed it."

"Lie."

Her scowl deepened.

"I stole it," she said at last with a resigned sigh, "How is it you always know when I'm lying?" He ignored her question.

"Who did you take it from?" He asked curiously and examined a series of runes etched into the fabric. They were blended so seamlessly into the regular pattern he wouldn't have noticed them if they didn't have the faintest glow…

She shrugged. "Just my brother's friend, they use it to sneak out all the time. I will give it back later."

"I wouldn't." Tom said idly and reached out to touch one of the runes that glowed brightly in response to his caress. To his immense surprise it felt more like how he remembered water did than the normal prickling. Ginny's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why not?" He shot her a tiny smile and pulled his hand away from the strange cloak, only just resisting the strange urge he had to study it more closely.

"If one is careless with their valuables they deserve to be stolen." Ginny pressed her had to her mouth to stop giggling.

"I might keep it longer then…only a few days though." She said casually and rubbed a bit of the cloth in-between her fingers thoughtfully. He could see the gears turning in her head and almost smiled again.

"Good, now what brings you here?" That caused her to blush a little and she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Well, I heard Sir Nick mention it was your bir- er _death _day yesterday and I just…" she looked very unsure "I just wanted to wish you a happy death day I suppose." She fiddled with something in her pocket for a moment before finding the courage to pull out a small package wrapped in old parchment.

"I didn't know if I needed to get you anything, so I got you something just to be sure." She muttered and looked down at the floor while Tom stared at her in surprise. She had actually gotten him a gift?

"I don't know what you could have gotten me that I could use," she cringed and looked ready to apologize. "But I appreciate the thought. You will have to open it for me though." She smiled gratefully up at him and started to tear the parchment off of a-

"A necklace?" It was a silver necklace in the shape of a delicate flower with a cluster of some kind of purple stones in the center. Tom looked from it to her incredulously. Her entire face was ruby red and she looked like she wanted nothing more than to curl back up in that oversized cloak and disappear.

"I didn't actually know what it was," she admitted embarrassedly and stared resolutely at everything but him "I just found it in a strange room I've never seen before by Gryffindor tower when I was wondering about what to get you for a gift." She looked down at it in shame but Tom saw it in a new light, if it was from the Come and Go Room… "It was like it was meant to be or-" She took a shuddering breath and looked like she was going to say something more but a dancing couple passed too close and startled her, causing her to drop the necklace and paper in a heap.

"Sorry!" She squeaked and reached down to quickly snatch the necklace up, along with the old parchment tangled in with the fine silver chain. But something about it caught his eye.

"Hold still." He ordered sharply and she froze as he moved closer to her to get a better look at the parchment. There was faded black writing on it and his eyes narrowed as he tried to read it. It was all in Latin, and a small bitter smile crossed his lips. Fifty years of studying the books in the library had made him fluent in the dead language, and he was grateful for it as he read what he could.

_Dear Sarrabeth_

…_.Sorry for your loss….able_

_to copy the effects but…..may cause death. I would ask you to use it sparingly…it off before the stones stop glowing…able to reunite with John for a brief time, but…..Hope you reconsider my proposal….Do not forget I love you still._

"Ginerva I need you to do something for me." She looked up at him cautiously "Unwrap the rest of the letter." She nodded and carefully untangled the necklace from the parchment but before he could read the rest of it Ginny paled and shoved it into her pocket. He frowned and was about to demand she take it back out before the Gryffindor house ghost floated up to them, head swinging by the bit of skin on his neck.

"Tom! Terribly good to see you old chap, don't know how long it's been but I do know it has been too long!" He clasped his shoulder as if they were old friends and Tom stiffened under the contact, his eyes narrowing at the offending appendage. Nick removed his hand a second later, none the wiser to Tom's ire, and frowned at the sight of Ginny.

"Well now what is this?" He swung his head to rest on top of his neck properly and examined the only living thing in the room.

"Ginny Weasley, I thought I heard someone following along behind me. I was sure it was your brothers going to raid the kitchen!" He exclaimed with a smile. "What are you doing out of Gryffindor Tower so early in the morning?"

"I just wanted to wish Tom a happy death day and then I was going to go right to bed, I swear!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest in an imploring manner "Please don't tell on me, Nick." The Gryffindor ghost chortled.

"It will not be I that ruins the festivities, consider myself ignorant of this little excursion. But you really should be going back to bed." Ginny nodded and was about to turn to go when Tom stopped her.

"Hold on a moment." Ginny and Nick looked curiously at him. "I will walk you back to your tower; it is my fault she is here after all." The last bit was directed toward Nick who nodded gaily.

"Ah chivalry, it is good to see. I will give your apologies to everyone." Tom nodded and turned to look at Ginny who was staring at him guiltily.

"Ready to go?" She nodded and started out of the only half closed door, leaving Tom to float after her. They walked (or in Tom's case floated) in silence until they came to the staircases.

"Put on the cloak and stay close to me, the prefects and teachers don't bother ghosts and if you walk behind me they won't accidently run into you." She nodded and covered her shoulders making them disappear instantly; she was reaching for the hood when she paused.

"Hey Tom, I'm sorry to make you leave your party." Tom had to hold back a snort.

"It is fine Ginerva, and I am not particularly fond of parties anyway," that seemed to make her relax but then she hesitated again. "Was there something else?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry about the necklace." She muttered and Tom sighed.

"It isn't a problem, and if I am right about where you got that necklace it may be more valuable than you think." She frowned and glanced down at her pocket doubtfully.

"You think so?"

"I do, but I need more time to look over that parchment before I can say anything for sure." Ginny perked up and reached for it but Tom shook his head. "Not now, tomorrow, bring it to me in the library around midnight. With that cloak it should be simple."

She nodded.

"One more thing, don't try to put it on until I tell you to."

She snorted. "I don't think I can ever wear another piece of jewelry after that book you gave me. I finished it by the way."

"Then bring it with you when you bring me the necklace, I have a few books in mind I think you will find very entertaining." She grinned brightly only to flinch at the sound of something moving down the stairs.

"We will speak later, get under the cloak and remember to stay close." With that Ginny pulled the hood over her head and disappeared. _A strange necklace and an unusual note written in Latin. A gift to me from the Come and Go room… it must mean something. Not to mention that invisibility cloak, I have never seen one like it before. _Tom pondered all of this as he slowly made his way up the staircases, listening for the faint shuffling of Ginny behind him. Perhaps there was something to celebrate this death day after all.


End file.
